Month: June 2007

The good times didn’t last long, did they? On Tuesday night, with the Giants riding a three-game winning streak, and Pedro Feliz coming up with two runners on in the bottom of the 9th with the score tied, I actually allowed myself to think – just for a second – that we could become buyers before the trading deadline. Silly me. Continue Reading →

Don’t look now, but with the Giants winning two in a row, and Colorado losing three in a row, we’re now only 5 1/2 games behind the Rockies for 4th place! Woo-hoo! OK, I’m just being facetious, but beating the Yankees two games out of three was a pleasant surprise. The Giants frenzied infield celebration when rookie Nate Schierholtz blooped a game-winning single on Saturday – and seeing the Giants cruise to a fairly easy 7-2 victory on Sunday – were fun to watch.

In these two wins, we saw the Giants do the things they were failing to do during the eight-game losing streak: good relief pitching, timely, clutch hitting and a great start by Noah Lowry. For the first time in a long time, let’s recap some of the positive things the Giants are doing: Continue Reading →

I just looked at the Giants Web site where season ticket holders are selling their tickets for upcoming games, and there were 540 listings for tickets for Friday’s game, 583 for Saturday’s game and a whopping 935 for Sunday’s game. So, are people trying to make a buck off these Yankees games, or are they finding the thought of having to watch the Giants too dreadful?

I share season tickets. At the beginning of the season, I looked forward to attending the series, but now I feel like I’m “stuck” going to all three games. I only say that because they’ve played awful and haven’t been entertaining during the seven-game losing streak. If the Giants get rocked early, I will start fantasizing about A-Rod being in a Giants uniform. And if it gets really bad, I will become one of those obnoxious fans, whip out my cell phone, call up friends around the ballpark, and tell them to meet me for a beer in the right-field arcade.

This is an open discussion. Fire away with your thoughts on the Giants/Yankees series, the state of the team, whatever you like. Should the Giants go after A-Rod this winter if he chooses to leave New York? Should the Giants try to get A’s reject Milton Bradley? Will the Giants ever win again? Discuss.

The Giants’ long-delayed rebuilding process just moved one step closer to reality. With the team sinking further into last place, Giants GM Brian Sabean told the Mercury News on Sunday that he may have to sell off veterans if the team doesn’t play better by mid-July.

That means trading away veterans like starter Matt Morris, reliever Steve Kline, the Giants entire infield of Rich Aurilia, Ray Durham, Omar Vizquel and Pedro Feliz, and quite possibly Barry Bonds, according to the Mercury News’ Andrew Baggarly who got the scoop. Bonds wants to remain a Giant, but “gave the impression that he would consider waiving his no-trade provision if the club were to explore deals,” Baggarly writes. (Here’s the full story with Sabean saying he believes season-ticket holders would accept a sell-off).

Wow. This is the first time Giants’ management has signaled a willingness to start rebuilding. While Sabean hasn’t said whether he’d be looking for major leaguers or prospects in return, there’s no doubt that we’d get younger, and allow youngsters like Kevin Frandsen to get more starts. It’s a huge concession and a big shift in strategy, and something that many of us Giants fans have been pining for, particularly this year with our underwhelming offense. Continue Reading →

Like many fans, I was looking forward to seeing the Giants play at Fenway Park for the first time in nearly a century, but then we get steamrolled 10-2, 1-0 and 9-5 for a three-game sweep. Ouch. The Red Sox hitters were in a slump, averaging only 2.7 runs in the last 10 games, before they smacked us (specifically, Barry Zito and Matt Morris) around.

The ugly numbers: 1-for-26 with runners in scoring position, according to the Giants’ radio announcers, and a 19-inning offensive dry spell between Friday and Sunday. Which at-bat was worse this weekend? Was it Saturday, down 1-0, with two runners on base, and Barry Bonds stares at three straight strikes – the last two being fastballs down the middle – without swinging? Or was it on Sunday, down 8-5, with the bases loaded, and Bengie Molina grounds into an inning-ending double play? Continue Reading →

Sweeping Toronto would have been great, but at least we took two out of three. That was our first series win since we swept the Astros three weeks ago.

Some bright spots from this series: The Giants won two close, one-run games after going 1-4 in one-run games in the last road trip. A healthy Dave Roberts is igniting the offense, going 3-for-10, with three walks, two stolen bases and three runs scored. Barry Bonds’ bat is showing signs of life again with a home run and two hits that bounced off the right field archways. And youngster Nate Schierholtz had some good at-bats in his first two starts, going 3-for-8, and doing the little things like moving the runner to third on a groundball out, and staying patient and drawing a walk when the Giants needed baserunners in the 9th today.

The Giants also played terrific defense and our relief pitching was lights out, giving up no runs in 8 1/3 innings the past two games. Brad Hennessey got his first save in his first attempt since the Armando Benitez trade. Hennessey’s 9th inning wasn’t easy. In fact, it was very much a Benitez-like inning. Two 3-2 counts. A single and that near home run that Randy Winn robbed. But instead of walking the batters on those 3-2 counts, Hennessey struck them out on nasty sliders.

Wasn’t it great to just see someone else out there on the mound in the 9th? There was no Benitez-induced squirming and feeling of dread as we saw Hennessey calmly go about his business. Let’s hope he continues to do well. Continue Reading →

Omar Vizquel comes through with the bat – finally. A two-run homer in the third, and a huge, game-winning single in the 11th. A fastball away, and he reaches out and pokes it past a diving third baseman. His clutch hit saves Ryan Klesko from being the Giants’ goat of the evening.

Klesko’s right-field misadventures in the 4th resulted in a three-run inning that gave the D-Backs the lead. First, he gets twisted around on a warning track fly ball, allowing it to drop for a double. Then he makes an ill-advised dive on a blooper that scores two runs. Also, after watching Chris Young beat us on home runs in the previous two games, it’s unbelievable that Jack Taschner gave him something to hit in the 10th. We’re lucky Young’s blast just went foul. The Giants relievers had a tough road trip, but they pitched five terrific shutout innings on Thursday. Overall, a 4-6 road trip. Not great, but nice to see the Giants salvage the final one in the desert.

First day of the draft: Since the current Giants are – as a whole, still playing miserably and in last place – let’s talk about the future Giants. The team had six out of the first 51 picks, and needed a good draft to stock its minor league system. It was nice to see the Giants choose four position players out of their first six picks. Five of them are high school students, so it will be years before we know if this is a good draft. If you haven’t trolled the Web yet for analysis, here’s what some experts are saying about the Giants’ choices, and it’s positive: Continue Reading →

At least this year we don’t have to fret about a June Swoon. One-third of the way into the season and we’re 27-29, six games behind the Dodgers, Padres and Diamondbacks. (The Dodgers play tonight. The other two are idle). This month will go a long way in determining whether we will become buyers or sellers before the July 31 trade deadline. And the June schedule is tough.

In the next 24 games, we play seven teams with a combined 215-176 record, including four first-place teams — the Diamondbacks (34-24) twice, the Padres (33-23), the Red Sox (37-18) and the Brewers (32-25). We also face Oakland (28-27), who always plays us tough, and Toronto (27-29). The worst team on the schedule are the Yankees (24-30) and they’re… well.. the Yankees.

The Giants hitters will also face some of baseball’s finest pitching during this stretch: Padres (2.94 ERA, ranked first in the majors), Oakland (3.34 ERA, ranked first in the American League) along with Arizona (3.65 ERA), Boston (3.89 ERA) and Milwaukee (3.95 ERA), all ranked in the top ten in ERAs. So the next month is critical. Continue Reading →